Loss prevention is a continuing problem in the retail industry. Current anti-theft systems involve locking up merchandise behind counters, far away from related merchandise, or locking up the merchandise in secure cabinets, closer to the place where related merchandise is generally stored.
There are disadvantages to each of these methods. When merchandise is stored in a secured location away from the point of storage of related items, sales of the secured merchandise decrease because customers are less likely to go out of their way to locate a sales associate to retrieve the merchandise. Also, sales of related items that would otherwise be situated in proximity to the secured merchandise decrease as well because the customer is not drawn to their location.
Therefore, although common anti-theft systems may be effective at preventing loss, they also can have the significantly negative impact of reducing sales. For those customers who are not deterred by these systems, they also have the effect of occupying more of the sales associate's time than required for other merchandise not similarly protected.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for an anti-theft system for retail stores that will deter theft without discouraging the sale of the merchandise and related items. Additionally, the anti-theft system should be able to be retrofitted onto existing retail displays to keep the cost of installation and the shelving downtime required for installation as low as possible.
The invention provides such an anti-theft system. These and other advantages of the invention, as well as additional inventive features, will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein.